Improvement in rotary engines



2 Sheets--Sheet 1.`

l. V. BEEKMAN. lRotary-Engine.

Patelnted Jan. 26,1875.

ZSheetsr-Sheet 2.

J. Y. BEEKMAN. Rotary-Engine.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN V. BEEKMAN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LIDGER- WOODMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK CITY.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARY ENGINES.

Speciti cation forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,066, dated January26, 1875; application led September 15, 1874.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN V. BEEKMAN, of the city of Brooklyn, Kingscounty, State ot' New York, have invented an Improvement in RotarySteam-Engines, reference being had to the accompanying drawings formingpart ofthe specification, in which- Figure l is a central verticalsectional view of a rotary engine embodying my improvements, and Fig. 2a similar view at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view ot' oneof the pistons, and Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the same on line .e w,Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a central sectional view, and Fig. 6 an inner faceview, of one of the cylinder-heads.

My invention relates, iirst, to the packing of the pistons in therevolving cylinder by steam; and consists in the devices, hereinafterdescribed, for conducting live steam as packing behind the pistons, andletting it on at the momentwhen the pistons, respectively, commence toslide outward in their recesses in the revolving cylinder, and cuttingit oft' at the moment when the pistons, respectively, reach theiroutward limit. It relates, second, to the construction of the pistons,whereby they are pressed laterally against the sidewalls of theirrecesses in the revolving cylinder, and these form steam-tight joints;and consists, iirst, in combining with the inner edge of pistonspacking-bars, the adjacent edge ofthe pistons of' said bars beingbeveled to match each other, so that when the said bars are forcedagainst the pistons by the pressure ot the steam the bars will bepressed against one side of the respective recesses, and the pistonsagainst the other side; and, second, in a sliding packing-block at theend of each piston, which, by a spring, is forced against thecylinder-head, thereby making a steam-tight joint between the ends ofthe pistons and the said cylinder-heads.

The general construction of the rotary engine to which I have applied myimprovements is not new, consisting of a steam-cylinder, thecross-section of the interior surface of which presents the form of anellipse, produced by two curved segmental abutments, a b, placedopposite each other, which contract the horizontal diameter ot' thecylinder to the diameter oi the rotary cylinder B, leaving steam-spacesC C at the top and bottom. In this cylinder B are the recesses e, inwhich work the sliding pistons d. The steam is introduced into thecylinder, in the usual way, through a steam-chest, D, and ports leadingtherefrom through the slides of the cylinder. It' the cylinder is to berevolved from left to right the steam enters on the left-hand side, justabove the center ot' the lett-hand abutment, and escapes, and if in theopposite direction it enters just above the abutment on the right-handside, and escapes at the point diametrically opposite. The

steam is let on or cut oi' in either direction at pleasure by the valveH in the steam-chest, operated by a lever or segmental rack, as shown.

The further description will relate to those devices and combinationswhich I regard as novel.

I am aware that I am not the first to introduce steam as a packing agentbehind the pistons in this class ot' engines. I limit myselt` thereforeto the particular devices by which that object is effected. From thesteam-chest two steam-passages, g g, lead, one to each end of thesteam-cylinder A, with which, respective-ly, connect passages h l1. madethrough the substance otl the cylinder-heads, leading to small chambersin the saidrhead, from which segmental ports tz", one at each head, leadinto the interior of the steam-cylinder. These ports are so placed thatthe bottom of the piston-recesses c in their turn `will pass over them,and the steam be delivered through them into the said recesses behindthe pistons just as the pistons successively pass the abutments a b, andcommence to slide outward in tlieir recesses, and will cut oft' thesteam from the recesses just as the pistons reach their outer limit, andcommence their reverse movement back into their recesses, as is shown inFig. l, the outlines of the segmental ports z' i being indicated bydotted lines. d d1 d2 d3 d* d5 indicate the pistons, and c the recessesin the revolving cylinder B, in which the pistons are carried. The inneredges of the pistons are beveled, as shown in the drawings. e indicatesthe packing-bars, beveled on their outer edge to match the bevel on thepistons. It

sevident that pressure upon the inner edge `f these bars will force thebars against one ide ot' the recesses, and the piston against the ither,making a tight joint on each side. f ndicates a packing-block held in aslot eut in he end of the piston, which is pressed out- Vard against thecylinder-head by the spiral spring s. One end of each of the pistons isiupplied with this packing-block. The springit is evident, in forcingthe block f against ,he adjacent cylinder-head, will force the opiositeends of the, pistons themselves against .he opposite cylinder heads,thus making '.team-tightjoints between the ends of the pis- ,ons and thecylinder-heads at both ends of '.he cylinder.' K K are stop-valves, bywhich 111e ports g g' may be closed or opened at jileasure. L L are camsformed on the interior faces of the cylinder-heads C C. rThey proectinto circular recesses in the ends of the zylinder B. Their peripheriesare elliptical in form, corresponding in curvature to the interiorsurface of the cross-section of the steamcylinder, with its curvedabutments a b, leaving a space between them, respectively, and the saidsurface equal to the Width of the proiecting ends Z l, Fig. 3, of thepistons. rlhese ends of the pistons project onto thc peripheral surfacesof the said cams, and in revolving slide around upon them, and arethereby forced outward in their recesses while passing from the centerof the abutments into the open spaces C.

The operation of the engine with the improvements described is asfollows, assuming that Fig. l represents the left hand: I'fit is desiredto revolve the cylinder B from right to left, the steam is let on bysliding the valve H to the left, openingthe port l for the introductionof steam, and the port 2 for its escape underneath the said valve, inthe usual Way.

'lhe steam will enter the steam-cylinder at f and f', and escape at thediainetrically-opposite points, respectively. The valve H will, by thesame movement, open the port g a little in advance of the port l, andthe stop-valve K being open, the steam is let in to the channel h, andthrough the port g behind the pistons d1 d4, the ends of which, at themoment, are resting over the said port, these pistons being therebyforced outward against the steam-cylinder A, so that when the port 1 isopened, the steam passing through it into the space C in the rear of thepiston will find a steam-tight joint between the said pistons and thesteam-cylinder. The pressure of the steam in the recesses o behind thepistons d1 d4 continues until they respectively reach a pointin thespaces C C midway between the abutments a b, when it is cut oft' bytheir recesses passing off from the ports g g. At the same moment theopposite ends of the said recesses pass into the corresponding ports atthe 0pposite end of the steam-cylinder, though the confined steam in therecesses behind the pistons d1 and d4 may expand into the channel 7L andcondense, the stop-valves being closed, thereby relieving the pressurebehind the said pistons, and While forming an elastic cushion under thepistons, which keeps them in contact with the steam cylinder, and causesthem to revolve smoothly without elattering, enables them, nevertheless,to be forced back into their recesses in riding up onto the abutmentswithout much friction. When the valve H is thrown to the opposite orright-hand side, all the movements are reversed, as will be apparentwithout further description.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, in a rotary steam-engine, of the curved segmentalabutments a b, the rotary cylinder B, recesses c, pistons d, thesteam-channels h h', and ports g g in the cylinder-heads O C', wherebylive steam' used for packing is let in behind the pistons immediatelyafter they, respectively, in revolving, pass the centers of theabutments, and is cut off just as they pass onto the said abutments, asand for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a rotary steam-engine, ofthe recesses c, thepistons d, beveled on their inner edges, and the beveled packingbars e,as and for the purposes specified.

Witness my hand this 11th day of Septemloer, A. D. 1874.

, J OHN V. BEEKMAN. Witnesses:

B. S. CLARK, WILLIAM STEvnNsoN.

